Labor cuts 'betray' unis: professors

A thousand academics are calling on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to reconsider cuts to universities.Source: AAP

UNIVERSITY professors feel betrayed by Labor government cuts which they say fundamentally jeopardise the future of tertiary education in Australia.

A thousand academics have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, published in newspapers across the country on Wednesday, urging her not to go ahead with the cuts in the May budget.

Last month the federal government said it would slash $2.3 billion from universities, as it scrambles to find money to pay for increased spending on schools.

The letter, organised by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), says the cuts came after previous decisions to chop research funding and teaching support, and mean Labor has taken more than $4 billion out of its promised spending.

"Universities have made by far and away the largest saving contributions of any federal budget line item," the letter states.

Murdoch University professor David Hill, one of the letter signatories, said the quality of Australia's university education was the most important factor in the country's future prosperity.

"If we are to compete effectively in the 21st century we need to be prepared to make at least same proportions of public investment in education as the OECD and put in by the leading economies of our region," he said on Wednesday.

Ms Gillard has said the planned cuts mean university funding will still increase, just at a lower rate.

But the NTEU says core funding per student and support for basic research continues to decline while the massive expansion in student numbers from uncapping government-supported places has not been properly funded.

"Your funding cuts will diminish the educational opportunities for our most disadvantaged young people and undermine the quality of their learning experience," the letter says.

The National Union of Students also opposes the cuts and has coordinated a series of protests against them around the country.

One such protest will happen on Wednesday at the Australian National University in Canberra.

The peak body for tertiary institutions, Universities Australia, has been campaigning for several months for increased funding to universities.

It wants both major parties to commit to increases in the lead-up to the September 14 federal election.

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